


Mary’s Diner

by pancastiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Basically, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Chef Dean Winchester, Comfortably Bisexual Dean Winchester, Dean Has a Dog, Dog Owner Dean Winchester, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pansexual Castiel (Supernatural), Pansexual Castiel Novak, Past Lisa Braeden/Dean Winchester, Pining Castiel, Pining Dean, Restaurant Owner Dean Winchester, Slow Build Castiel/Dean Winchester, Slow Burn, dean didn’t have to raise sam, hes still not emotionally well-adjusted tho, mary was a good mom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2019-06-27 16:09:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15688848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pancastiel/pseuds/pancastiel
Summary: Dean Winchester has never been the kind of person to bring feelings into the workplace, seeing as he’s never really wanted to before. However, that shouldn’t change just because his newest hire has pretty eyes and the hottest voice he’s ever heard. That shouldn’t change just because Dean catches Cas checking out his ass and wonders what he’d sound like in bed.Except, maybe it should.





	1. goin' through the motions

**Author's Note:**

> thank you guys so much for checking out my story!
> 
> if you get starved for some destiel, you can check out my tumblr (pancastiel) for some random cute blurbs
> 
> thank you to my friend ben for always reading my shit and validating me. you’re great
> 
> constructive criticism is always welcome. enjoy xx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rewrite rewrite rewrite!
> 
> gonna be doing some more updating tonight, so pls do some rereading if you need to
> 
> (u probably do since it's been, like, a year! sorry i love u)
> 
> just trying to take what my college education has taught me thus far and make this story better
> 
> also decided to make it longer than i first expected!! fun
> 
> basically, i didn't change anything major within this so if you feel like you wanna reread be my guest! but the second chapter is most definitely going to be different than its update cough cough cas and dean meeting cough cough
> 
> so yeah! please enjoy nd do not read chap two til it is updated lol
> 
> authors note dated 5/26/19

The dishes clink into the sink as Dean heaves a heavy sigh. Beside him, Benny laughs. “You getting tired of workin’, boy?”

Dean rolls his eyes. “Today was the longest shift this week, Benny.” He throws a look at the man stepping next to him. “And it’s not like it’s getting any easier without the busboys staying after.” The two men roll up their sleeves. “Remind me as to why we hired prepubescent boys at our four-star place?”

“First of all, the diner’s got 4.7 stars now, cos of the social stuff whats-her-face has been doin’. And second,” Benny gives him a pointed look as he picks up a steak knife, “Because they’re your nephews.”

Dean rolls his eyes and chuckles, setting a cleansed dish on the drying rack. “Oh, right.”

They continue the dishes in silence until there are only a few pieces of silverware left for each of them. “So…” Benny angles himself toward Dean. “You finally gonna come to the bar with me tonight?”

His laugh fills the kitchen as Dean grimaces. “C’mon. You know I have friends who are definitely interested in you, man.” He hits Dean on the shoulder playfully.

“Ben, I...” Dean sighs, grabbing Benny’s leftover silverware, in hopes to make this go more quickly. He searches his mind for yet another excuse to get out of a bar night as he scrubs a soaped-up cloth over a spoon. “How can they be interested? They don’t even know me,” He decides on, deflecting the question through a forced chuckle.

Benny sees right through it. “Look, Dean, I’m just worried about you, s’all. Ever since Lisa, you’ve been...” The burly man searches for a warmer word than distant, but doesn’t come up with much. “Detached from us, I guess. Even Ellen and Jo.” Benny’s arms go up in slight outrage. “Ellen owns the place, and Jo’s the manager, for cryin’ out loud.” The clap on his legs lingers, echoing within the silence.

Dean pushes to think of another rehearsed line to throw out, but he doesn’t have to. After a few breaths, Benny places a hand on Dean’s shoulder and squeezes. “I’ll finish up here. You head out.” He smiles and squeezes one last time before letting go. “Get home safe, ‘kay? And don’t forget about the new hire tomorrow. ‘Gotta meet him a half hour before opening, show him some stuff.”

Benny always does that, finishes thoughts for people before they can formulate them. Always gets them to agree and go along with what’s being expected. Dean’s not sure if he’s thankful or annoyed most of the time, but right now it’s thankful.

Dean smiles and nods as he unties his apron and hangs it up on the side. He heads through the back door, grabbing three full trash bags on his way out to lessen Benny’s load on his own. He throws the bags over his head and into the dumpster and makes his way to his Chevy Impala.

When Dean closes the door to it, a sigh emanates from him as he feels the familiarity of the leather seats under his hands. He closes his eyes and breathes in the Impala air, before starting the ignition and his drive home.

His left knee bounces the entire drive, no matter how hard he focuses on keeping it still. After fifteen minutes, he pulls in, and anxiously parks. He closes his eyes to take one more deep breath before closing his garage door and making his way inside.

The house is a little big for just one person to live in, but it wasn’t meant for one.

He’s greeted by his German shepherd, Bee, at the door. She wags her tail and jumps up and down, excited to see him. She brings his attention away from his anxiety toward the next day.

He checks her bowl to make sure she ate her whole dinner from when he came home to feed her, and smiles when he confirms that it’s empty. He bends down next to her, petting her head fondly. “Look at you, Bee. Gettin’ over that sickness.” She pants happily back in response.

Bee follows him to his bed, and she snuggles up to him as he flops down. As soon as he pulls out his phone, his screen is lighting up with the name “Char.” He sighs and answers begrudgingly. “I’m sleeping in fifteen minutes. What do you need?”

“Jeez, can’t a girl call to ask how her best friend’s day was?” The redhead replies. “I mean, wow. Be nicer to me. I’m the networker for your business, after all.”

Dean rolls his eyes. “Charlie, if you’re just calling to tell me about how Gilda didn’t sleep with you again, but that the other girl you slept with was just fine, I will first kill you and then myself.” His voice is completely deadpan.

Silence carries over the phone, and then, in a sarcastically soft voice, “How long has it been since you’ve been fucked, man?”

“Alright, bitch, I’m hanging up. There’s a new hire being trained tomorrow, so you should be there. Goodnight.” Before Charlie can begin to protest, Dean hangs up and closes his eyes. He’s more tired than he thought, and soon falls asleep from the warmth Bee brings him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Staying with you gave us something to do  
>  I almost thought it was true for a while  
> 'Cause there's love in your lies  
> You're so thinly disguised  
> You couldn't tell right from wrong if you tried_
> 
> _And we're going through the motions  
>  Yeah, we're going through the motions  
> Yeah, we're going through the motions  
> Going through the motions_
> 
> _\- Goin' Through the Motions, Blue Oyster Cult_


	2. first day of my life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean Winchester has never been the kind of person to bring feelings into the workplace, seeing as he’s never really wanted to before. However, that shouldn’t change just because his newest hire has pretty eyes and the hottest voice he’s ever heard. That shouldn’t change just because Dean catches Cas checking out his ass and wonders what he’d sound like in bed.
> 
> Except, maybe it should.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finished with the (probably) ninth draft of the second chapter... pls enjoy heh
> 
> if you like this check out my other work on here! i have a couple more things on tumblr (my account is pancastiel and all my writing is under the tag “k’s writing” so) if you’d wanna check any of those out as well
> 
> thank you to my friend ben for always reading my shit and validating me. you’re great bb
> 
> constructive criticism is always welcome. enjoy xx

Dean wakes up the next morning groggily, as usual. He hits his alarm and mulls over dozing off for a few more minutes of bliss, but knows he needs to be at the job early anyway.

Dean gives himself a few moments to scroll through social media. He rolls his eyes once he sees Benny’s tweets from last night’s outing at around two in the morning. He’s definitely on his own today.

He lets out a grunt as he locks his phone and sits up, making his way to the bathroom. He forces himself to take a quick shower, pushing away the anxious thoughts over meeting a new hire.

He throws on a clean pair of jeans and a navy baseball tee when Bee begins to actually wake up. She lets out a whiney yawn, before staring right at Dean and wagging her tail. He slips on his socks and shoes before scratching behind her ear for a moment.

He checks his clock that says it’s 5:01, and decides to head down to the diner early to make some breakfast there. He thinks back to yesterday’s afternoon fridge check.. he really needs to go grocery shopping.

He smiles over to Bee. “Wanna go to work with me today, bud?” Her tail begins swooshing back and forth loudly on the comforter. He chuckles, ducking in to kiss her head. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Bee trots beside him down the steps and sits at the front door, waiting patiently for her collar and leash. Dean kneels down and clips both on, smiling and patting her on the head.

They end up taking the pleasant walk to the diner since Dean doesn’t have a shipment to pick up, and Bee excitedly pants the whole way. Dean pulls his keys out and unlocks the front door before hooking Bee up in the waiting area. He pulls out his phone for a time check. It reads 5:29, and Dean decides that’s enough time to whip up some eggs and bacon.

He plugs his phone into the diner’s speaker system, immediately going to his personal playlist. Dean gathers his ingredients and begins to cook as Led Zeppelin floods into his ears.

_In the days of my youth_   
_I was told what it means to be a man_   
_Now I've reached that age_   
_I've tried to do all those things the best I can_

Dean’s hips begin swaying as he mumbles to the chorus.

_Good times, bad times_   
_You know I had my share_   
_When my woman left home for a brown eyed man_   
_Well, I still don't seem to care_

He pauses and lets his fingers twitch in the air to the bass that plays, laughing at himself. Dean bobs his head as he continues scrambling eggs alongside sizzling bacon.

The various tracks fade into each other, and Dean checks his timing as he plates his food. He notices there’s plenty of time to enjoy his breakfast before the trainee gets there, possibly even enough time to give Bee another quick walk around the block before she’s cooped up inside all day. He tosses a piece of bacon into his mouth as he grabs two slices of bread to toast. He shovels the eggs down hungrily, four seeming to be a substantial amount to him when he was cooking. Pink Floyd begins to play through his ears as he eats, and he taps his foot to the tune.

_Money, get away_   
_Get a good job with more pay and you're okay_   
_Money, it's a gas_   
_Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash_   
_New car, caviar, four-star daydream_   
_Think I'll buy me a football team_

He lets himself get lost in the tune and taste of the food until he jumps at the toast popping up.

He hears a chuckle sound from behind him, and his ears turn pink.

The assumed-trainee is squatted next to Bee, smiling at her enthusiasm. He makes eye contact with Dean as he takes his headphones out, and throws a different smile to him. Dean’s anxiety saves that away for over-analyzing.

The new hire speaks. “Hello, I am Castiel.” He reaches a hand out to Dean to shake his hand warmly, and Dean gives it to him. “Ellen and Benny hired me. Are you the co-owner?”

Dean focuses on breathing normally, as he’s just noticed how terribly great this man looks with a bit of scruff.

Dean realizes he’s shaking Castiel’s hand for too long, and jerkily pulls back. “Oh, I’m Dean.” He smiles awkwardly. “And, uh, not exactly. The other owner, I mean.”

He stops himself, closing his eyes. He takes a deep breath, not caring how weird he looks.

When he opens his eyes, Castiel has a thoughtful look on his face, as if Dean taking a deep breath in the middle of a conversation is totally normal. “I’m actually just a chef,” Dean points to the now-empty plate, “with Benny.”

He grabs the diner’s keys from his belt, locking the door up so that no customers make their way in before they officially open for the day. “My mom actually opened the place up, and… well, she passed away when I was young, and Ellen took it in as her own.” He gestures for Castiel to follow him to behind the counter. “I just help out with everything she can’t make sense of, invest in some things when I think they might fit.”

Castiel nods, smiling appreciatively. “That’s very sweet of you.” He looks at Dean earnestly, and Dean’s cheeks turn their fair share of red.

“So,” Dean breaks the eye contact, bending below the counter, “let’s get you a name tag first. You said your name’s Castiel?” The man nods. “Hm. Mind if we shorten it to Cas?” He explains further when Castiel’s eyebrows shoot up, turning back to write on the tag. “Customers will get all confused about the pronunciation of your full one, and everyone gets nicknames in here eventually. Might as well let you have one now so you don’t get an embarrassing one later, right?”

Dean looks up with a smile and is horrified when he notices Castiel quietly laughing to himself. “Sorry, did-” He breathes in and out again, slowly. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, I-” Cas laughs once more, breathing through it. “In all my 32 years, no one has ever come up with a nickname for me. You see one right at the beginning of my name within the first, what, five, ten minutes of meeting me?” He chuckles one last time.

Dean chuckles along with him, shrugging. “I guess you just haven’t found someone cool enough.”

Cas’ laughing fades, and he smiles softly at Dean, holding eye contact. “Yeah. I guess I haven’t.”

As the moment begins to pass, Dean decides he should clear something up (by sputtering it out). He smiles nervously. “I have a policy, actually, about not dating employees-” His eyes widen. “I mean, not that you and I would ever-” Cas’ head turns to the side, brows furrowed in slight amusement. Dean closes his eyes and takes deep breaths, forcing himself to focus. “Yeah. Sorry. It isn’t an actual policy, just a thing I have.” He finishes off Cas’ name tag and hands it to him. “If you wanted to date anybody else in here, you totally could. In fact, I encourage it! Ha!”

Dean truly wants to be anywhere else.

He desperately searches in his head for a conversation starter just to change the subject, but his brain short-circuits. Cas takes the name tag from Dean’s outstretched hand. “I appreciate the offer, but… well, if you’re not interested in dating employees, then I guess I’m not either.”

Dean’s mouth goes dry, and his eyes dip down to Cas’ arms. If he had that much less self-control, he might actually reach out for one…

The sound of a knock and dog barking sounds over the now-quiet music, and he straightens himself up. “Charlie!”

She waves to Bee on the outside as Dean runs over to the door. He makes a mental note to thank Charlie excessively later.

Dean unlocks the front door and Charlie smiles. “Hey, boys.” She bends down, petting Bee. Without looking up, she continues, “Am I interrupting something here?”

Dean removes the mental note.

He lets out an awkward laugh. “Nope, no! ‘Course not, you know me!” He shoves his best friend toward the new employee. “Charlie, this is the new hire.”

Cas smiles lightly, pretending not to notice Dean’s complete meltdown. He stretches his hand out to her, and his calmness seems to bring the atmosphere back down, as well. “Hello. I’m Castiel. But, please,” He shoots Dean a glance, “Call me Cas.”

Dean thinks that dying would be reasonable in this situation.

Charlie grins, shaking his hand. “Already taking to the nickname! I like ya, Cas. Nice to meet you.” Before Castiel can say anything else, Charlie turns completely to Dean. “When is Jo coming in today? Is she here already?”

Dean groans, rolling his eyes. “No, Char, she’s not.” He goes back behind the counter to grab his plate, moving to the kitchen, knowing he doesn’t want any dirty dishes on a Sunday. “C’mon, when you gonna give that up? You know she’s straight.”

“Dean! Are you even into men?” She yells to him through the countertop that peers into the kitchen. “It’s a gay’s basic right to hopelessly trot after a straight person of their gender.” She shrugs. “Guess we all want what we can’t have, huh, Cas?”

She doesn’t even turn to look at the man. Dean glares daggers, throwing a dirty dish towel at her. Castiel just laughs to himself and makes his way over to Bee again, figuring that this conversation may not be as quick as planned.

Charlie sighs. “Just tell me when she comes in, please? It’s seriously important.” Charlie pouts at Dean. “How could you say no to this?”

“Like this,” Dean throws over his shoulder, scrubbing the plate. “No!”

The woman groans in frustration. “I won’t make her uncomfortable this time, okay, Dean? I swear!” Charlie begs him as he turns to look at her. “I really need to just talk to her.”

He stares at her for a minute, before rolling his eyes. “Alright, alright.” He sighs, rinsing the plate off. “Sh’ was supposed to be here now, but she can’t make it ‘til later, which means she’ll be here til close. Do with that information as you please.” He points with the towel in his hands. “You did not hear this from me. You came in today and guessed.”

Charlie grins, throwing Dean a thumbs up as a sign of thanks. “Nice.” This time she addresses Cas directly as she takes her leave. “Alright, Cas, I’ll see you around. We’ll get your picture for the social media accounts when I stop by later, yeah?”

Castiel nods with a smile as Dean stomps over to the door. “Charlie! Why’d you even stop by, then?”

She opens the door to leave, but calls out to Dean, “I knew for sure I’d be able to get you to crack in person for Jo’s schedule. A phone call was 50/50.” She throws him a smile. “Just playin’ it safe, buddy!” Charlie blows them both a kiss and waves bye to Bee through the glass.

The sound of a car starting plays as Dean runs his fingers through his hair, elbows leaning on the diner’s counter. “Jo’s definitely gonna kill me for that.”

Cas stays on the ground with Bee, who continues to wag her tail and excitedly shake at the two men in front of her. He lets a moment pass before speaking again. “Maybe show me around a bit more before customers show up, then, Dean?” His back is to Dean, but his head is turned slightly towards him.

Dean smiles weakly. “Sure, sure. Let’s, uh,” Dean clears his throat, “Let’s do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _And so I thought I'd let you know_   
>  _That these things take forever_   
>  _I especially am slow_   
>  _But I realize that I need you_   
>  _And I wondered if I could come home_
> 
> _\- First Day of My Life, Bright Eyes_


End file.
